Chimney Puff Back Clean Up

Chimney Puff Back Cleanup | Yonkers, NY

What’s a “Puff Back”?

Puff Back sounds like an op-ed piece or something an exotic bird can do with its tail, but it’s actually one of the most dreaded aspects of home ownership, especially in older homes with “vintage” furnaces.

Each fall when homeowners fire up their oil heat furnaces for the first time, they risk a potential clean-up nightmare. When oil heat systems suffer from “incomplete combustion,” the result can be a small explosion that sends clouds of soot particles throughout your home, staining and saturating your rugs, ceiling, light fixtures, etc.

It’s called a “Puff Back.” And if you’ve never heard of it, you’re lucky. For almost 20 years we’ve been cleaning up after disasters large and small in Westchester County, Yonkers and the NYC area. “Puff Backs” don’t scare us a bit.

Two Kinds of Puff Backs

Puff-Backs come in two forms: fast and slow.

You’ll definitely know when you’re coping with a Fast Puff-Back. Most of your house, including your kitchen, bath, curtains, clothing, computers, and pets, will be quickly covered in a layer of soot, making breathing difficult too. If this happens, treat it like an emergency (for your long-term health and property values, it is one!), and contact Hi-Tech immediately.

The second type of puff-back is sneakier. You might not even notice a slow puff-back at first. If you notice that you clean a grimy area only to find that rust-like particles reappear a few hours later, especially around heating vents, you’ve probably experienced a slow puff back that requires professional cleaning services.

Everything covered in soot?

Professional removal is essential because Puff-Back soot is almost impossible to remove through normal household methods. It’s an oil-based contaminant that fills the air with known carcinogens and covers everything with grimy, greasy and sticky residue that presents severe health hazards.

Also, vacuuming doesn’t work. It only makes the situation worse by grinding the soot deeper into your carpets.

If puff-back soot isn’t removed by professionals – and quickly, it can corrode the metals on your doorknobs, faucets, appliances and expensive computers.

Don’t hesitate to seek help. Puff Back damage won’t go away on its own. We make it right FAST.